DOHA: A total of QR14,782,800 was raised at a charity auction at Sotheby’s London to benefit the ‘1 in 11’ global education campaign initiated by Reach Out To Asia (ROTA), FC Barcelona Foundation and Unicef.
The global initiative launched earlier this year aims to extend education opportunities to marginalised and vulnerable children, starting in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal.
The sale featured 18 artworks donated by Western and Middle Eastern artists, including Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, Richard Serra, Wael Shawky and Manal Al Dowayan.
The top lot of the evening, Jeff Koons’s, Donkey (Yellow) from 1999, sold for QR3,091,875.
Two paintings depicting Lionel Messi by Hirst and Murakami sold for QR3,785,743 — Hirst’s Beautiful Messi Spin Painting For One in Eleven fetched QR2,026,094 and Murakami’s Lionel Messi and a Universe of Flowers QR1,759,649.
The auction started with a bespoke football designed by Murakami and signed by him and Messi was sold for QR249,792.
Among the pieces auctioned was a unique palm leaf on paper work by Qatari artist Yousef Ahmad which fetched QR124,896.
“Never has the phrase ‘the beautiful game’ been more apt than this evening when the worlds of football and art collided in Sotheby’s London auction rooms.
“By harnessing the universal language of sport and art, tonight’s auction provided a powerful platform for the campaign, drawing bids from art collectors and sports fans across the world,” said Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman, Europe, and Auctioneer.
Gérard Bocquenet, Director, Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Unicef, said: “All of us involved in the ‘1 in 11’ partnership at FC Barcelona Foundation, ROTA and Unicef are thrilled by the amount raised.
“Every child, wherever she or he lives, has the right to learn, to play and to grow and tonight art and football have come together in a unique way to help ensure more children enjoy that right.”
Other artists whose works were auctioned included Luc Tuymans, Jenny Holzer, Shirin Neshat, Marc Newson, Yan Pei-Ming, Cai Guo Qiang, Francesco Vezzoli, Etel Adnan, eL Seed and Dia Azzawi.
The Peninsula
